Multi-use telephone test sets and related systems and methods

ABSTRACT

Telephone test sets include a telephone test set housing and at least one lead that extends away from the telephone test set housing. The lead is configured to be coupled to a telephone line. A light source, a data port and/or a display are integrated with the telephone test set housing. The light source is configured to project light away from the telephone test set to illuminate an area adjacent the telephone test set. The data port is configured to receive a data jack operatively associated with a communications device. The display is configured to display identification information associated with the telephone line. Related methods and systems are also provided.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to telecommunications test equipment and relatedsystems and methods, and more particularly to telephone test sets foruse in testing telecommunications systems, and related systems andmethods.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telephone test sets have long been used by telephone linesman to testand/or monitor operation of a telephone line. As is well known to thosehaving skill in the art, a telephone test set generally includes ahousing, often shaped like a telephone receiver, that includes a keypad,leads for connecting the telephone test set to the telephone line and amonitoring circuit for listening to the telephone line. Exemplarytelephone test sets are generally discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,346to Faith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,336 to Durston and U.S. Pat. No.5,726,853 to Chavannes and, thus, need not be discussed further herein.

Recently, the number of features offered by telecommunications serviceproviders in combination with telephone service has greatly increased.In particular, a telephone customer can choose from a list of optionsincluding, for example, caller identification, call return, callwaiting, three way calling and the like. Accordingly, telecommunicationsservice technicians may have to deal with more than inoperable telephonelines. In other words, a customer's telephone service may functionproperly, but one or more of the features selected by the customer maynot.

The increased number of features offered by telecommunications serviceproviders may further increase the number of service requests receivedby the telecommunications service technicians. The increased number ofservice calls may, for example, create problems associated with trackingwhich service requests have been completed and which service calls havenot been completed. Furthermore, the existence of an increased number ofservice calls may possibly make it more difficult to respond to all ofthe service calls during daylight hours. Existing test equipment, forexample, telephone test sets, may not be configured to address serviceissues presented by the increased number of features associated withtelephone service. Accordingly, improved test equipment may be desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide telephone test setsincluding a telephone test set housing and at least one lead thatextends away from the telephone test set housing. The lead is configuredto be coupled to a telephone line. A light source may be integrated withthe telephone test set housing and configured to project light away fromthe telephone test set to illuminate an area adjacent the telephone testset.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the telephone test set mayinclude at least one data port integrated with the housing andconfigured to receive a data jack operatively associated with acommunications device. The at least one data port may include a firewire port, an RJ11 port, an RJ45 port, a universal serial bus (USB) portand/or a serial port. The communications device may include a laptopcomputer, a palmtop computer, a personal data assistant (PDA), and/or amodem.

In further embodiments of the present invention, the telephone test setmay include a display integrated with the housing configured to displayidentification information associated with the telephone line. Theidentification information may include a name of a current caller, anumber of a current caller and/or an address of a current caller.

In still further embodiments of the present invention, the telephonetest set may include a keypad integrated with the telephone test sethousing. The light source may be further configured to illuminate thekeypad when at least one key on the keypad is depressed.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the light source may bepowered by a local battery in the telephone test set housing. Thetelephone test set may further include a charging circuit that isconfigured to charge the battery when the at least one lead is coupledto the telephone line. The light source may be configured to be poweredby a central office battery coupled to the light source through thetelephone line.

In further embodiments of the present invention, the at least one leadmay be configured to clip to a tip line and/or a ring line of thetelephone line. In still further embodiments the at least one lead mayinclude a connector that is configured to clip to a tip line and/or aring line of the telephone line.

Still further embodiments of the present invention provide systems forcommunicating with a website by a telephone linesman. The systemsinclude a communications device that is configured to communicate withthe website over a network and a telephone test set. The telephone testset includes at least one lead that extends away from the telephone testset housing and is coupled to a telephone line and a data port. The dataport is configured to receive a data jack coupled to the communicationsdevice and to connect the communications device to the network over thetelephone line.

Some embodiments of the present invention provide methods for connectingwith a website by a telephone linesman. The methods include connectingat least one lead of a telephone test set that extends away from thetelephone test set housing to a telephone line and connecting a datajack of a communications device to a data port of the telephone testset. The website is communicated using the communications device via thetelephone test set and the telephone line.

Further embodiments of the present invention provide systems fortroubleshooting a telephone line. The systems include a communicationsdevice including a data jack and a telephone test set. The telephonetest set includes at least one lead that extends away from the telephonetest set housing and is coupled to a telephone line and a data port thatis configured to receive the data jack. The systems further includemeans for monitoring operations of the communications device.

Still further embodiments of the present invention provide methods fortroubleshooting a telephone line. The methods include connecting atleast one lead of a telephone test set that extends away from thetelephone test set housing to a telephone line, connecting acommunications device to a data port of the telephone test set, andmonitoring operations of the communications device coupled to the dataport of the telephone test set. Accordingly, telephone test sets canhandle the increased number of features offered by thetelecommunications service providers and/or service issues presentedthereby.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating telephone test sets according tosome embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating telephone test sets according toother embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating telephone test sets according toyet other embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating telephone test sets according tostill other embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a top plan view of telephone test sets according to someembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5B is a perspective view of an upper end of telephone test setsaccording to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating systems in which telephone testsets according to some embodiments of the present invention may be used.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating operations of telephone test setsaccording to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating operations of telephone test setsaccording to other embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of theinvention are shown. However, this invention should not be construed aslimited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodimentsare provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, andwill fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in theart. It will be understood that, when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected to the other element or intervening elements may be present.In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below withrespect to FIGS. 1 through 8. Embodiments of the present invention canprovide telephone test sets including a light source, a display and/or adata port integrated with a telephone test set housing. Integration ofthe light source, the display and/or the data port with a telephone testset may facilitate testing, monitoring and/or troubleshooting of, forexample, telephone lines. For example, a light source may illuminate aadjacent area when technicians, for example, telephone linesman, areworking at night, in manholes or in otherwise poorly lit areas. Inanother example, identification information may be displayed on thedisplay to verify that certain features of the telephone line arefunctioning correctly as discussed further below.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of telephone test setsaccording to some embodiments of the present invention will bediscussed. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a telephone test set 100 maycomprise, in a portable telephone test set housing 115, at least onelead 105, a light source 120, a battery 150, a monitoring circuit 135, acharging circuit 155, a switch 125, and a keypad 140 that communicatewith a controller 130. It will be understood that the componentsprovided in the telephone test set housing 115 of FIG. 1 are providedfor exemplary purposes only and that telephone test sets 100 accordingto embodiments of the present invention are not limited to theillustrated configuration. For example, the telephone test set 100 mayfurther comprise, in the portable telephone test set housing 115, aspeaker, a microphone, a transceiver and the like that furthercommunicate with a controller 130 without departing from the teachingsof the present invention. Furthermore, the controller 130 may includefunctional modules not illustrated in FIG. 1 but which will beunderstood to those of skill in the art related to telephone test sets.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, at leastone lead 105 that extends away from the telephone test set housing 115may be configured to be coupled to a telephone line. In certainembodiments of the present invention, the lead 105 may be a connectorconfigured to connect the telephone test set 100 to a tip line and/or aring line of the telephone line. The connector may be, for example, aplug cord. In other embodiments of the present invention, the lead 105may be a clip, for example, a banana clip that is configured to beattached to the tip line and/or ring line of the telephone line. Oncethe at least one lead 105 is coupled to the telephone line, themonitoring circuit 135 may provide means for monitoring thefunctionality of the telephone line and/or equipment associated with thetelephone line. For example, the monitoring circuit 135 may beconfigured such that the technician can listen to audible digital pulsesor signals associated with the telephone line and make a determinationas to whether the telephone line and/or equipment is functioningproperly.

Access to, for example, the tip line and/or the ring line may beprovided by a cross-connect frame. A cross-connect frame allows forcircuit connections between two pieces of telephone equipment. Thecross-connect frame typically contains access points, for example, jackaccess points, wire access points and/or pin access points, that may beused to, for example, test, monitor and/or troubleshoot thecross-connected telephone lines. The cross-connect frame may be wired toa central office. A jack access point on the cross-connect frame may bewired to one piece of central office equipment in the central office orrespective sets of jack access points on a cross-connect frame may bewired to respective different pieces of central office equipment. Thedesign, operation and functionality of cross-connect frames andequipment located at a central office are well known to those havingskill in the art and need not be described further herein.

Referring again to FIG. 1, a light source 120 integrated with thetelephone test set housing 115 is configured to project light 122 awayfrom the telephone test set 100 like, for example, a flash light. Thelight source 120 may be provided by, for example, a light emitting diode(LED), a fluorescent light bulb, a halogen light bulb and/or anincandescent light bulb. Integrating the light source with the telephonetest set housing 115 may allow a technician to illuminate a poorly litarea around the telephone test set 100. In certain embodiments of thepresent invention, the light source 120 may also be configured toilluminate the keypad 140 when a key on the keypad is pressed. It willbe understood that the keypad may also be illuminated by a second lightsource (not shown) in addition to or instead of the light source 120without departing from the teachings of the present invention.

The light source 120 may be powered by a local battery 150, i.e. abattery within or integrated with the telephone test set housing 115. Acharging circuit 155 may charge the local battery 105. The chargingcircuit 155 is configured to charge the local battery 150 when the atleast one lead 150 is coupled to the telephone line. In certainembodiments of the present invention, the light source 120 may bepowered by a central office battery located in the central officecoupled to the light source 120 through the telephone line. As furtherillustrated in FIG. 1, the light source 120 may be responsive to aswitch 125 that may connect and/or disconnect the light source to and/orfrom the local battery 150 and/or the central office battery such thatthe light source 120 is turned on and/or off, respectively.

Integration of the light source 120 in the telephone test set housing115 according to some embodiments of the present invention may providean advantage over carrying, for example, a separate flashlight. Forexample, batteries in a flashlight may run dead, a flashlight may beleft behind by accident, a sudden power outage may cause the poorly litconditions and the like. In contrast, having a light source 120integrated with the telephone test set 100 can increase the likelihoodthat a light source will be available when needed and the rechargeablecapability of the light source will increase the likelihood that thelight source will function when necessary.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram illustrating telephone testsets according to other embodiments of the present invention will bediscussed. Operations of the controller 230, the keypad 240, the lead205 and the monitoring circuit 235 are similar to the operations thecontroller 130, the keypad 140, the lead 105 and the monitoring circuit135 discussed above with respect to FIG. 1 and in the interest ofbrevity will not be discussed further herein.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, atelephone test set 200 may comprise, integrated with a portabletelephone test set housing 215, at least one data port 260 thatcommunicates with the controller 230. The data port 260 may beconfigured to receive a data jack operatively associated with acommunications device. The at least one data port 260 may be, forexample, a fire wire port, an RJ11 port, an RJ45 port, a universalserial bus (USB) port and/or a serial port. It will be understood thattelephone test sets according to embodiments of the present inventionmay include one or more data ports. It will be further understood thattelephone test sets according to embodiments of the present inventionmay include multiple data ports of different types and/or multiple dataports of the same type without departing from the teachings of thepresent invention.

It will be understood, that, as used herein, the term “communicationsdevice” may include a Personal Data Assistant (PDA) that can include aradiotelephone, pager, Internet/intranet access, Web browser, organizer,calendar and/or a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, aconventional laptop and/or palmtop receiver, a modem and/or otherappliance capable of communicating voice and/or data over a telephoneline.

In certain embodiments of the present invention, the communicationsdevice, for example, a laptop computer, may be plugged into the dataport 260 of the telephone test set 200. As discussed above, the at leastone lead 205 of the telephone test set 200 may be coupled to thetelephone line. In these embodiments of the present invention, thelaptop computer, for example, a TechNet laptop adapted for outdoor use,can connect to a website over a network through the telephone line. Incertain embodiments of the present invention, the website may include acustomer database containing customer records. A technician, forexample, a linesman, may access the website including the customerdatabase to, for example, close and/or receive service jobs. Integratingthe data port 260 into the telephone test set 200 may enable atechnician to access the website right at the test site without havingto rig a connection to the telephone line or use the customer's landline. Thus, according to some embodiments of the present inventiontechnicians may efficiently provide and/or receive information aboutservice calls form the website and may, therefore, move from one servicecall to the next sooner than before.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the data port 260 may beused to connect, for example, a modem to the telephone line through thetelephone test set 200. This may facilitate testing, monitoring and/ortroubleshooting of the communications device and/or telephone line. Themodem may be any modem known to those having skill in the art, forexample, 33.3 Kb/s, 56.6 Kb/s, digital subscriber line (DSL), cable orthe like. In particular, the technician may monitor the system for afree telephone line using, for example, the monitoring circuit 235,connect to a network using the modem, listen to the signals produced bythe modem, using, for example, the monitoring circuit 235, and evaluatethe functionality of the modem based on the signals.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram illustrating telephone testsets according to still other embodiments of the present invention willbe discussed. Operations of the controller 330, the keypad 340, the lead305 and the monitoring circuit 335 are similar to the operations thecontroller 130, the keypad 140, the lead 105 and the monitoring circuit135 discussed above with respect to FIG. 1 and in the interest ofbrevity will not be discussed further herein.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, atelephone test set 300 may comprise, integrated with a portabletelephone test set housing 315, a display 370 that communicates with thecontroller 330. The display 370 may be configured to displayidentification information associated with the telephone line, forexample, a name of a current caller, a number of a current caller and/oran address of a current caller. The display 370 may be a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD). Integration of the display 370 with the telephone testset housing 315 may facilitate testing, monitoring and/ortroubleshooting of features offered by a telephone service provider.

For example, if a customer selects caller identification as a desiredfeature on their telephone line, the technician can connect thetelephone test set 300 to the telephone line using the at least one lead305. The technician may have, for example, the home office, call thetechnician on the customer's telephone line and may monitor the accuracyof the caller identification feature by viewing the results on thedisplay 370 provided in the telephone test set 300. Thus, viewing thecaller identification information on the display may provide means formonitoring the functionality of caller identification feature. It willbe understood that the monitoring circuit 335 may also be configured tomonitor the caller identification information and provide a resultwithout departing from the teachings of the present invention.Integration of the display 370 with the telephone test set 300 mayeliminate the need for technicians to plug a separate calleridentification unit into a customer's jack to verify theaccuracy/functionality of the service.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a block diagram illustrating telephone testsets according to yet other embodiments of the present invention will bediscussed. Operations of the controller 430, the keypad 440, the lead405, the monitoring circuit 435, the switch 125, the light source 120,the local battery 150, the charging circuit 155, the display 370 and thedata port 260 are similar to the operations like named elementsdiscussed above with respect to with respect to FIGS. 1 through 3 and inthe interest of brevity will not be discussed further herein.

In certain embodiments of the present invention, a telephone test set400 having the light source 120 integrated with the telephone test sethousing 415 may be further configured to illuminate the display 370 whena key on the keypad 440 is depressed. It will be understood that thelight source 120 may be configured to illuminate the display 370 and/orthe display 370 may be illuminated by a second light source (not shown)without departing from the teachings of the present invention.Embodiments of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 4 may provideadvantages discussed above with respect to FIGS. 1 through 3. Forexample, the light source 120 may enable a technician to work in poorlylit areas, the data port 260 may provide means for connecting to anetwork over a telephone line and testing, monitoring and/ortroubleshooting the telephone line and/or a communications device, andthe display 370 may provide a means for testing, monitoring and/ortroubleshooting the telephone line and/or features associated therewith.It will also be understood that various other combinations andsubcombinations of the blocks of FIGS. 1 through 4 may be provided inother embodiments of the present invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A and 5B, a top plan view and a perspective viewof an upper end of telephone test sets according to some embodiments ofthe present invention will be discussed. As illustrated in FIGS. 5A and5B, the telephone test set 500 includes, integrated with a portabletelephone test set housing 515, a keypad 540, a lead 505, a switch 125,a light source 120, a display 370 and a data port 260. Operations ofthese components are similar to like named components discussed abovewith respect to FIGS. 1 through 4 and in the interest of brevity willnot be discussed further herein. It will be understood that FIGS. 5A and5B are provided for exemplary purposes only and that the exteriorappearance of telephone test sets according to embodiments of thepresent invention are not limited to this configuration. For example,the display 370, the data port 260 and/or the light source 120 may beremoved from the telephone test set housing 515 of the telephone testset without departing from the teachings of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a block diagram illustrating systems in whichtelephone test sets according to some embodiments of the presentinvention may be used will be discussed. The system 605 may include atelephone test set 600, a communications device 610, a telephone line620, a network 630, a server 650 and a website 660. The communicationsdevice 610 may communicate over the network 630, for example, theInternet, over the telephone line 620 through the telephone test set600. The server 650 may also communicate over the network 630. Thus, thenetwork 630 may provide a connection between the communications device610 and the server 650 through telephone line 620. The server 650 may bean applications server, web server or the like.

The system 605, as illustrated in FIG. 6, also includes a website 660.It will be understood that the present invention is not limited to theconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 6. For example, the website 660 may beintegrated with the server 650 without departing from the teachings ofthe present invention. In certain embodiments of the present invention,the website 660 may contain a customer database. The customer databasemay be accessed by, for example, technicians in the field to improvecustomer service, for example, decrease response times for servicecalls.

In particular, a communications device 610, for example, a laptopcomputer, may be coupled to the telephone test set 600 using a data portprovided in the telephone test set 600 as discussed above with respectto FIGS. 2, 4 and 5. It will be understood that the telephone test set600 may include any of the features discussed above with respect toFIGS. 1 through 5 without departing from the teachings of the presentinvention. At least one lead of the telephone test set 600 may becoupled to the telephone line. The technician may connect to the website660 over the network 630 through the telephone line 620. The technicianmay access customer records stored in a customer database provided, forexample, on the website 660 and may update customer records, forexample, close out service calls responded to and/or obtain new servicerequests.

In certain embodiments of the present invention, the technician mayaccess a telecommunications company intranet over the network 630. Thetelecommunications company intranet may also contain a databaseincluding customer records and information with respect to servicecalls/requests. The technician may update customer records on thetelecommunications company intranet. It will be understood that thetelecommunications company may provide access/login codes to thetechnicians to access the website for security purposes. The ability toconveniently access these customer records in the field and update themwithout having to rig a connection or use the customer's phone line mayincrease service efficiency.

In certain embodiments of the present invention, the communicationsdevice 610 may be, for example, a modem. The modem may be coupled to thetelephone line 620 using the data port provided in the telephone testset 600. The technician may connect to the network 630, for example, theInternet, using the modem and may monitor the signals/pulses produced bythe modem to determine if the modem is functioning properly. It will beunderstood that the communications device may be any piece of equipmentthat is configured to communicate voice and/or data over a network. Itwill be further understood that in certain embodiments of the presentinvention that the monitoring circuit discussed above with respect toFIGS. 1 through 4 may be configured to monitor the performance of themodem and, thus, provide monitoring means.

Operations according to various embodiments of the present inventionwill now be discussed with respect to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIGS. 7 and 8 areflowchart illustrations of operations that may be carried out by systemsincluding telephone test sets according to various embodiments of thepresent invention. It will be understood that telephone test sets mayinclude any of the components and/or functionalities discussed abovewith respect to FIGS. 1 through 5 without departing from the teachingsof the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 7, methods for connecting with a website by atelephone linesman will be discussed. At least one lead of a telephonetest set is connected to a telephone line (block 710). As discussedabove, in certain embodiments of the present invention the lead may be aconnector configured to connect the telephone test set to a tip lineand/or a ring line of the telephone line. In other embodiments of thepresent invention, the lead may be a clip, for example, a banana clipthat is configured to be attached to the tip line and/or ring line ofthe telephone line.

A data jack connected to a communications device may be connected to adata port of the telephone test set to connect the communications deviceto the telephone test set (block 720). As discussed above, the data portmay be, for example, a fire wire port, an RJ11 port, an RJ45 port, a USBport and/or a serial port. The data port of the telephone test set maybe configured to connect the communications device to a network over thetelephone line.

The communications device is connected to the website over the networkthrough the telephone line (block 730). As discussed above, the websitemay include customer records stored in a customer database. Thetechnician may update the customer records with respect to service callsin the database or receive information with respect to new servicerequests. In particular, the technician may both receive work ordersand/or close out work orders.

It will be understood that in some embodiments of the present invention,the acts noted in the blocks of FIG. 7 may occur out of the orderillustrated in FIG. 7. For example, two blocks shown in succession may,in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. In particular, in certain embodiments of thepresent invention the acts of block 720 may be performed before the actsof block 710.

Referring now to FIG. 8, methods for troubleshooting a telephone linewill be discussed. At least one lead of a telephone test set may beconnected to a telephone line (block 810). A communications device maybe connected to a data port of the telephone test set (block 820).Operations of the communications device coupled to the data port of thetelephone test set may be monitored (block 830).

It will be understood that in some embodiments of the present invention,the acts noted in the blocks of FIG. 8 may occur out of the orderillustrated in FIG. 8. For example, two blocks shown in succession may,in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. In particular, in certain embodiments of thepresent invention the acts of block 820 may be performed before the actsof block 810.

In certain embodiments the communications device may be, for example, amodem. The lead of the telephone test set may be connected to thetelephone line and the modem may be connected to the data port of thetelephone test set. The technician may monitor the telephone lines for afree telephone line using, for example, a monitoring circuit and, usingthe modem, may attempt to connect to a network through the freetelephone line. The technician may monitor pulses and/or signalsproduced by the modem and/or telephone line to determine if the modemand/or telephone line are functioning properly.

In some embodiments of the present invention, operations of thecommunications device may be monitored using a display integrated withthe telephone test set housing that displays identification information.For example, if a customer is experiencing problems with a calleridentification feature, the technician may have the home office call thecustomer's telephone line and may monitor the identification informationon the display to determine if a problem exists with the calleridentification feature. As discussed above the identificationinformation may include a name of a current caller, a number of acurrent caller and/or an address of a current caller.

As discussed above with respect to FIGS. 1 through 8, incorporating oneor more of a light source, a display and/or a data jack into a telephonetest set may allow more efficient monitoring, testing and/ortroubleshooting of telephone lines and/or communications devicesassociated with telephone lines by telephone technicians.

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed embodimentsof the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they areused in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the followingclaims.

1. A telephone test set comprising: a telephone test set housing; atleast one lead that extends away from the telephone test set housing andconfigured to be coupled to a telephone line; a light source integratedwith the telephone test set housing and configured to project light awayfrom the telephone test set to illuminate an area adjacent the telephonetest set, wherein the light source is powered by a battery in thetelephone test set housing; and a charging circuit that is configured tocharge the battery in the telephone test set when the at least one leadis coupled to the telephone line.
 2. A telephone test set according toclaim 1 further comprising at least one data port integrated with thehousing and configured to receive a data jack operatively associatedwith a communications device.
 3. A telephone test set according to claim2 wherein the at least one data port comprises a fire wire port, an RJ11port, an RJ45 port, a universal serial bus (USB) port and/or a serialport.
 4. A telephone test set according to claim 2 wherein thecommunications device comprises a laptop computer, a palmtop computer, apersonal data assistant (PDA), and/or a modem.
 5. A telephone test setaccording to claim 2 further comprising a display integrated with thehousing configured to display identification information associated withthe telephone line.
 6. A telephone test set according to claim 5 whereinthe identification information includes a name of a current caller, anumber of a current caller and/or an address of a current caller.
 7. Atelephone test set according to claim 1 further comprising a keypadintegrated with the telephone test set housing, wherein the light sourceis further configured to illuminate the keypad when at least one key onthe keypad is depressed.
 8. A telephone test set according to claim 1wherein the light source is further configured to be powered by acentral office battery coupled to the light source through the telephoneline.
 9. A telephone test set according to claim 1, wherein the at leastone lead is configured to clip to a tip line and/or a ring line of thetelephone line.
 10. A telephone test set according to claim 1, whereinthe at least one lead comprises a connector that is configured to couplethe telephone test set to a tip line and/or a ring line of the telephoneline.
 11. A telephone test set comprising: a telephone test set housing;at least one lead that extends away from the telephone test set housingand is configured to be coupled to a telephone line; a data portintegrated with the telephone test set housing and configured to receivea data jack of a communications device; a light source integrated withthe telephone test set housing and configured to project light away fromthe telephone test set to illuminate an area adjacent the telephone testset, wherein the light source is powered by a battery in the telephonetest set housing; and a charging circuit that is configured to chargethe battery in the telephone test set when the at least one lead iscoupled to the telephone line.
 12. A telephone test set according toclaim 11 wherein the at least one data port comprises a fire wire port,an RJ11 port, an RJ45 port, a universal serial bus (USB) port and/or aserial port.
 13. A telephone test set according to claim 11 wherein thecommunications device comprises a laptop computer, a palmtop computer, apersonal data assistant (PDA) and/or a modem.
 14. A telephone test setaccording to claim 11 wherein the light source is further configured tobe powered by a central office battery coupled to the light sourcethrough the telephone line.
 15. A telephone test set according to claim11 further comprising a keypad integrated with the telephone test sethousing, wherein the light source is further configured to illuminatethe keypad when at least one key on the keypad is depressed.
 16. Atelephone test set according to claim 11 further comprising a displayintegrated with the telephone test set housing and configured to displayidentification information associated with the telephone line.
 17. Atelephone test set according to claim 16 wherein the identificationinformation includes a name of a current caller, a number of a currentcaller and/or an address of a current caller.
 18. A telephone test setaccording to claim 11, wherein the at least one lead is configured toclip to a tip line and/or a ring line of the telephone line.
 19. Atelephone test set according to claim 11, wherein the at least one leadcomprises a connector that is configured to clip to a tip line and/or aring line of the telephone line.
 20. A telephone test set comprising: atelephone test set housing; at least one lead that extends away from thetelephone test set housing and is configured to be coupled to atelephone line; a display integrated with the telephone test set housingand configured to display identification information associated with thetelephone line; a light source integrated with the telephone test sethousing and configured to project light away from the telephone test setto illuminate an area adjacent the telephone test set, wherein the lightsource is powered by a battery in the telephone test set housing; and acharging circuit that is configured to charge the battery in thetelephone test set when the at least one lead is coupled to thetelephone line.
 21. A telephone test set according to claim 20 whereinthe identification information includes a name of a current caller, anumber of a current caller and/or an address of a current caller.
 22. Atelephone test set according to claim 20 further comprising a data portintegrated with the telephone test set housing and configured to receivea data jack of a communications device.
 23. A telephone test setaccording to claim 22 wherein the at least one data port comprises atleast one of a fire wire port, an RJ11 port, an RJ45 port, a universalserial bus (USB) port, and/or a serial port.
 24. A telephone test setaccording to claim 22 wherein the communications device comprises alaptop computer, a palmtop computer, a personal data assistant (PDA),and/or a modem.
 25. A telephone test set according to claim 20 whereinthe light source is further configured to be powered by a central officebattery coupled to the light source through the telephone line.
 26. Atelephone test set according to claim 20 further comprising a keypadintegrated with the telephone test set housing, wherein the light sourceis further configured to illuminate the keypad when at least one key isdepressed.
 27. A telephone test set according to claim 20, wherein theat least one lead is configured to clip to a tip line and/or a ring lineof the telephone line.
 28. A telephone test set according to claim 20,wherein the at least one lead comprises a connector that is configuredto clip to a tip line and/or a ring line of the telephone line.